Levee District to sell $100 million in bonds for Morganza

Published: Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 9:55 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 9:55 p.m.

Terrebonne levee officials are moving forward with plans to sell $100 million in bonds to help finish the parish’s Morganza-to-the-Gulf levee system.

The Levee District is bonding out a portion of the half-cent sales tax Terrebonne voters approved in December. The 28-year tax for Morganza will raise $330 million for levees. Repayment of the debt will be over 25 years.

The Terrebonne Levee Board plans to approve the bond sale at its Tuesday meeting. The bonds will be sold in April.

Morganza is a system of levees and floodgates designed to protect Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes from storm flooding.

The local Morganza effort aims to build 10-foot levees and 18-foot floodgates from Cut Off to Dularge. The Levee District also plans to build levees in Bayou Black and a floodgate and connecting levees in Falgout Canal in Dularge.

Terrebonne Levee Director Reggie Dupre said the bond sale is probably the largest Terrebonne Parish has ever undertaken for infrastructure work.

In 2010, the Terrebonne Levee District bonded out its quarter-cent sales tax, which voters approved in 2001, for $49 million to build the floodgate on the Houma Navigation Canal that acts as the centerpiece of the Morganza project.

Advocates have described the half-cent tax effort as a last stand to finish the Morganza levee system and protect the parish from flooding caused by Gulf of Mexico storms.

Conceived in 1992 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal Morganza project has remained in the study phase for 20 years while residences have flooded from multiple hurricanes. More than $70 million has been spent by the corps to study the system, but not a dollar in federal money has been spent on construction.

In January, the corps announced that the scope of the Morganza project had been expanded, and the cost of the project had risen from $886 million to nearly $13 billion.

While the Levee District’s scaled-down Morganza project won’t protect residents from major floods, Levee District officials say the 10-foot levees would protect them from the type of flooding that happened during hurricanes Rita and Ike.

Jack Moore, finance committee chairman for the Terrebonne Levee Board, said the board decided to stick with the original bond proposal that it presented to voters while campaigning for the half-cent sales tax last year.

Levee officials contemplated bonding the tax out over time but found it would be more cost-effective to bond the tax out all at once, Moore said.

The only complication is that the board must have spent or obligated the $100 million within three years of selling the bonds.

“That’s going to be challenging,” Moore said.

But Dupre said the board has more than $100 million worth of work in design, permitted or going through the permitting process. He’s confident the board can spend $100 million on levee and floodgate work in the next three years.

That includes $75 million worth of levees between Grand Caillou and Chauvin and a floodgate in Bayou Little Caillou. There are also available permits to do work on a floodgate and levees in Pointe-aux-Chenes and Montegut.

So far, the Levee District has spent more than $250 million building floodgates in Bayou Grand Caillou, the Houma Navigation Canal, and Bush and Placid canals. It has also built levees in lower Chauvin and Pointe-aux-Chenes.

“I’ll be very excited once we have everything done,” Moore said. “It’s an exciting time for us, because when they approved the tax, the public did show that they believe levee protection is something that’s important for all of us.”

Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com

<p>Terrebonne levee officials are moving forward with plans to sell $100 million in bonds to help finish the parish's Morganza-to-the-Gulf levee system.</p><p>The Levee District is bonding out a portion of the half-cent sales tax Terrebonne voters approved in December. The 28-year tax for Morganza will raise $330 million for levees. Repayment of the debt will be over 25 years.</p><p>The Terrebonne Levee Board plans to approve the bond sale at its Tuesday meeting. The bonds will be sold in April.</p><p>Morganza is a system of levees and floodgates designed to protect Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes from storm flooding.</p><p>The local Morganza effort aims to build 10-foot levees and 18-foot floodgates from Cut Off to Dularge. The Levee District also plans to build levees in Bayou Black and a floodgate and connecting levees in Falgout Canal in Dularge.</p><p>Terrebonne Levee Director Reggie Dupre said the bond sale is probably the largest Terrebonne Parish has ever undertaken for infrastructure work.</p><p>In 2010, the Terrebonne Levee District bonded out its quarter-cent sales tax, which voters approved in 2001, for $49 million to build the floodgate on the Houma Navigation Canal that acts as the centerpiece of the Morganza project. </p><p>Advocates have described the half-cent tax effort as a last stand to finish the Morganza levee system and protect the parish from flooding caused by Gulf of Mexico storms. </p><p>Conceived in 1992 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal Morganza project has remained in the study phase for 20 years while residences have flooded from multiple hurricanes. More than $70 million has been spent by the corps to study the system, but not a dollar in federal money has been spent on construction.</p><p>In January, the corps announced that the scope of the Morganza project had been expanded, and the cost of the project had risen from $886 million to nearly $13 billion. </p><p>While the Levee District's scaled-down Morganza project won't protect residents from major floods, Levee District officials say the 10-foot levees would protect them from the type of flooding that happened during hurricanes Rita and Ike.</p><p>Jack Moore, finance committee chairman for the Terrebonne Levee Board, said the board decided to stick with the original bond proposal that it presented to voters while campaigning for the half-cent sales tax last year.</p><p>Levee officials contemplated bonding the tax out over time but found it would be more cost-effective to bond the tax out all at once, Moore said. </p><p>The only complication is that the board must have spent or obligated the $100 million within three years of selling the bonds.</p><p>“That's going to be challenging,” Moore said.</p><p>But Dupre said the board has more than $100 million worth of work in design, permitted or going through the permitting process. He's confident the board can spend $100 million on levee and floodgate work in the next three years.</p><p>That includes $75 million worth of levees between Grand Caillou and Chauvin and a floodgate in Bayou Little Caillou. There are also available permits to do work on a floodgate and levees in Pointe-aux-Chenes and Montegut.</p><p>So far, the Levee District has spent more than $250 million building floodgates in Bayou Grand Caillou, the Houma Navigation Canal, and Bush and Placid canals. It has also built levees in lower Chauvin and Pointe-aux-Chenes.</p><p>“I'll be very excited once we have everything done,” Moore said. “It's an exciting time for us, because when they approved the tax, the public did show that they believe levee protection is something that's important for all of us.”</p><p>Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com</p>